


bones, hollowed

by orphan_account



Category: Naruto
Genre: blood cravings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-30
Updated: 2018-04-30
Packaged: 2019-04-30 04:54:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14489259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account





	bones, hollowed

Certain birds of prey will drop their catches against rocks, both to kill them and break their bones in chance of consuming marrow, from which blood is produced (and is rich in nutrients). Canids enjoy crunching on bones to get to the flavorful and nutrient-packed marrow. Humans, too, use marrow- stocks and broths have bones placed in them to absorb the flavor and nutrients from the soft innards of the bone. 

———

An ancient practice amongst Kyūbi no Yōkō Jinchuuriki was the consumption of live marrow- a literal consumption of the essence of life- and was regarded as one of the Jinchuuriki’s most horrendous secrets, known by few and supported by fewer.

 

Uzumaki Mito, overpowered easily by the fox’s relentless urge for blood, kidnapped criminals from their prison cells and devoured them live and awake, the fox within reveling in the bitter tang of iron, the salt of his container’s tears, and the tearing of flesh amonst delicious human screams.

 

Uzumaki Kushina became a whirling maelstrom of crimson liquid and gnashing teeth, shrieking across battlegrounds and digging into the throats and chests of her prey. Unlike Mito, she enjoyed the blood-taste, the fox’s soul and hers closely intertwined. When the war ended, she had Teuchi make Marrow Ramen, which abated the fox’s tastes enough to keep them both sane.

-

Naruto never knew of this, however, never was informed of the hunger pangs or the sudden watering of the mouth at the sight of carnage. Kurama growled and paced and wailed within his cage, chakra fluctuating and swirling with hunger. No amount of ramen made him feel less hungry, no amount of sleep took the edge of starvation away.

———

Kakashi knows about Naruto’s blood addiction, even if the boy himself doesn’t- remembers Kushina’s mysterious bowls of ramen that stunk like death and suffering, remembers the feral looks in her eyes and the soft, strange whimpering and growling she let out while eating it when he watched through a keyhole from behind a locked door- and decides to test something.

He takes the boy, who had been twitchy and near-feral in the past week, out into the Forest of Death for ‘training’, and cuts his palm. The boy’s eyes are suddenly black slivers in a sea of corrupt orange-red. He allows his student to lap up the blood that drools from his hand, listening to the half-growls and whimpers that his mother made all those years ago.

The child is taking every last drop of his self-restraint to not tackle his sensei and tear him to tatters, he can tell, based on the flickers of killer intent and the near-insane hunger in his eyes.

He keeps a better eye on the Jinchuuriki after that, bringing him vials of blood or allowing him to ‘eat’ after directing his teammates away from combat areas.

-

During the fight with Kabuto while Jiraiya and Orochimaru battle atop their summons, he and Kurama are unable to hold back. He wails like the risen dead and charges the combat medic.

Kabuto’s chakra scalpels do nothing- the Kyūbi shredding them easily- and he falls as the rapture of acrid chakra envelops him. The Sannin watch in horror (or interest, in Orochimaru’s case) as the sweetheart blonde goes into a rage and devours Kabuto, shattering his skull and consuming the brain within, snapping ribs and slurping up marrow, biting lungs and heart and lapping blood.

-

Tsunade vomits, devolving into one of the worst flashbacks she’d had in a long time. Jiraiya nearly flees.

Orochimaru grins, immediately deciding that the fox-container was far more interesting than the ‘Last Uchiha’.

-

Orochimaru offers an endless buffet of gore. Naruto, lost deep within a rage of blood-hunger and his own anger, takes the offer. 

The snake Sannin loses a promising student, yes, but it’s quickly inconsequential- he has a Bijuu Container within his possession- and the curse mark is applied.

Unlike others, who draw from Orochimaru’s chakra reserves, Naruto drains chakra into it. Oto-nin gain immense boosts to their powers, and Orochimaru’s arms regrow, regardless of the fact they’re in the Death God’s stomach.

———

Sasuke’s Curse Mark burns away overnight, the voice of Orochimaru’s creation gone from his head, his promised power bled out. He walks into Konoha, and is reinstated as a member of Team 7, alongside Sakura and Sai.

-

Naruto finds a way into Sage Tailed Cloak Form Two, and the mounting taste for blood grows. It takes half of a fully-grown human being to sate him, now. His contract with the Toads of Miyoboku is canceled, and the Fox Contract replaces it.

His new summons revere him, and join in on his consumptions. He is, after all, the container of reality’s greatest fox spirit.

-

The Akatsuki die screaming.

_What were mortals to do against a ninth of the power of a dead god?_


End file.
